Latest Articles

Market for natural personal-care products booming in spite of economy

Despite an economic slump, eco-friendly personal-care items have Americans sitting up and paying attention top dolla. Sales are booming despite high food and energy prices, and analysts predict the products’ popularity won’t ebb anytime soon. Chicago-based research firm Mintel reports that sales of natural personal-care products rose 12.5 percent last year to an inflation-adjusted $465 […]

Weighing the costs and benefits of increased offshore drilling

The following is a guest essay from Michael A. Livermore, Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Regulation at New York University School of Law and author, with Dean Richard Revesz, of Retaking Rationality: How Cost-Benefit Analysis Can Better Protect the Environment and Our Health. —– What is the cost of cheap gas? […]

New data show that 2008 organic food sales will reach $32.9 billion

As people from Haiti to Ethiopia are tragically struggling to cope with rising food prices, many are piecing together the reasons behind our recent price spikes. The culprits lie in everything from the switch to growing crops for biofuels to market speculation. The situation is complex and involves multiple factors. But as economists tally up […]

Without coal, the most catastrophic climate scenarios may not happen

NASA’s latest analysis of the intersection of peak oil and climate change argues that oil and natural gas alone probably won’t get us to 450ppm. If we can constrain our use of coal fairly quickly, we probably can avoid the worst outcomes — unless of course, the impact of reduced global dimming or methane from […]

A pipe dream

Data Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration From Architecture 2030

Kingsnorth six acquitted in U.K. for coal-plant protest and vandalism

Good news from the U.K.: The Kingsnorth Six were acquitted by a Crown Court jury. They were members of a group of 23 Greenpeace volunteers who had attempted to shut down the Kingsnorth coal-fired power plant, specifically the six were the ones painting the smokestack with “Gordon Bin It” when interrupted by the police. Their […]

Energy Star program needs improvement, says Consumer Reports

The U.S. EPA is facing off with Consumer Reports over the federal Energy Star program, which rates the energy efficiency of products in more than 50 categories. In a recent article, the consumer magazine declares that Energy Star “standards are too easy to reach and federal test procedures haven’t kept pace with new technology,” noting […]

Two trends for bakeries, one encouraging and one dismal

It’s hard to imagine a vibrant local-food economy without a vibrant bakery scene. The capacity to efficiently turn something as bland as flour into something delicious and substantial seems key. In energy terms, baking several hundred loaves of bread a day in a commercial operation makes more sense than every family cranking out a loaf […]

SpeechWars

Via Treehugger, SpeechWars is indeed addictive. Enter any word and you can see how many times Obama and McCain have used it in their speeches over the last four years: The results are not always intuitive. Then again, some are:

Judging a tomato contest, and celebrating with a fresh, tomato-y gumbo

You say tomato … All my life, I have wanted to be a professional tomato taster. I am happy to report that on August 18, 2008, I had the chance to serve as a judge (unpaid, so, OK, not exactly professional, but still …) in the 24th annual Massachusetts tomato contest, organized by the Massachusetts […]